Probing Mechanical Properties in Biology Using Brillouin Microscopy

Kareem Elsayad; Silvia Polakova; Juraj Gregan

doi:10.1016/j.tcb.2019.04.002

Probing Mechanical Properties in Biology Using Brillouin Microscopy

Trends Cell Biol. 2019 Aug;29(8):608-611. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2019.04.002. Epub 2019 May 10.

Authors

Kareem Elsayad¹, Silvia Polakova², Juraj Gregan³

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Microscopy Facility, Vienna Biocenter Core Facilities, Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Dr Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: Kareem.Elsayad@vbcf.ac.at.
² Department of Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovicova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Membrane Biochemistry, Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84505 Bratislava, Slovakia.
³ Advanced Microscopy Facility, Vienna Biocenter Core Facilities, Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Dr Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna, Austria; Department of Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovicova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Chromosome Biology, MFPL, University of Vienna, Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Dr Bohr-Gasse 9, 1030 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: juraj.gregan@univie.ac.at.

PMID: 31085065
DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2019.04.002

Abstract

Brillouin microscopy can be used to map the mechanical properties of samples in a noncontact and label-free manner, with potential applications in cell biology. Here, we provide an overview of the underlying principles and technology as well as the current challenges and outlook.

Keywords: Brillouin microscopy; mechanical properties; mechanobiology; spectroscopy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biomechanical Phenomena
Cell Biology*
Humans
Microscopy / methods*